Effective Crisis Action Team

Can you organization respond well to crisis? Having the right team can make the difference.

Every organization ultimately confronts a crisis. Many confront them on an ongoing basis. A well organized, active crisis action team is the best defense against the ramifications (financial, legal, regulatory, etc.) that a crisis can have on your organization.

Two types of crises

Crises come in two forms. The first are events that happen beyond the organization’s control, such as natural disasters, mechanical failures, robberies, etc. These types of crises are characterized by a flurry of activity to quell the initial crisis followed by recovery.

Reacting swiftly and properly to the event crisis is enough to protect the organization’s reputation. The public understands that these types of events happen and are generally forgiving if the response is appropriate.

The second kind of crisis is an escalating issue that the company knew about but allowed to progress unchecked until it reached a breaking point. Enron is the biggest example from most recent times. These types of crises also exist on smaller levels, such as low morale among employees that is allowed to fester to the point that customers begin defecting to competitors.

The types of crises pose a substantial risk to an organization’s reputation. FEMA’s response to Hurricane Katrina will have an impact on its reputation for years to come.

Role of a crisis action team

A crisis action team has three primary roles:

1. Developing a crisis action plan
2. Monitoring and mitigating issues before they explode into crises
3. Training the organization to respond to a crisis

A crisis action plan is the foundation of an effective response. The plan should anticipate all potential crises that can strike, create channels of communication for alerting the organization’s leadership when a crisis is strikes, and designate specific roles and responsibilities within the organization.

Depending on the size of the organization, the plan can take several days or several months to create. The plan should include some element of training and rehearsal of crisis scenarios. Once in place, the plan requires little more than an annual update.

The ongoing function of the crisis action team is monitoring and mitigating issues before they become crises. The crisis action team should meet at minimum on a quarterly basis, depending upon the number of issues it identifies in its initial meeting.

Some issues will have a long lifespan. For example, a lawsuit filed against the company may drag out for years. These issues require little more than monitoring and regular reporting to crisis action team.

Some issues will require immediate mitigation. If a customer satisfaction survey raises red flags, the crisis action team should take immediate steps to mitigate the problem. Common issues with potential to become crises include poor employee morale, repeated sexual harassment complaints, and regulatory compliance issues. Each of these poses a significant risk to the organizations, its reputation, and perhaps its longevity.

The final function is training. A crisis can literally stop an organization in its tracks. Research has show that people lose as much as 80 percent of their cognitive capacity (ability to think) during periods of high stress. Scenario training creates a greater sense of confidence that reduces the initial shock so that people to begin focusing on the resolution of the crisis.

Organizing an effective crisis action team

The crisis action team’s composition should match the breadth of potential crises facing the organization. Potential players include:

1. Chief executive officer
2. Chief financial officer
3. Chief operating officer or key vice president
4. Legal counsel
5. Purchasing
6. Customer service
7. Corporate communications/public relations
8. Sales and marketing

The diversity of roles and opinions is important to a thorough review of issues and the response to any crisis.